What is the average gradient of Mont Ventoux?

7.5%
Climbing Mont Ventoux, taking the Bedoin route (the village sits at 300m) is a 21.5km journey that covers 1612 metres of ascent and with an average gradient of 7.5%.

What category climb is Mont Ventoux?

queen stage
With the roll call of winners including Poulidor, Merckx, Thévenet, Pantani, Virenque and Froome you can see why most years the Tour de France includes Mont Ventoux it is usually classified as that year’s queen stage.

How difficult is Mont Ventoux?

While Barthes’s soundbites make for handy — if hyperbolic — quotes, if you get the right weather and pace yourself well, climbing Mont Ventoux is not intrinsically any more difficult than riding any other 20km, high mountain ascent. On a clear day you might see Ventoux from over 100km away.

Why is Mont Ventoux white?

White with snow in winter, and almost as white in summer due to its sun-bleached rocks – a ‘moonscape’, as it’s so often referred to – the Ventoux can be seen from a long way off. Such is Mont Ventoux’s magnificence that it inspires not only cyclists to conquer it, but poets and writers too.

What is the gradient of Alpe d Huez?

The ascent is characterised by 21 hairpins which unusually count downwards, making each turn a recognisable achievement of pain and glory. It is a 13.2 km climb, ascending 1104 m with an average gradient of 7.9% and a max gradient of 14%. Alpe d’Huez features a steep start, with five turns at gradients over 10%.

Why does Mont Ventoux have no trees?

Flora and fauna Originally forested, Mont Ventoux was systematically stripped of trees from the 12th century onwards to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon.

What is the hardest climb in cycling?

Mauna Kea
The hardest bike climb in the World is Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii, and is also by far the most difficult bike climb in the world. Mauna Kea has it all: length (42.5 miles), altitude (sea level to nearly 14,000′), and gradient (the last 10 miles are from 8,120′ to 13,779′ at 10.7% average grade).

What is the hardest category climb in cycling?

Hors catégorie
Hors catégorie (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is “beyond categorization”. The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the most difficult type of climb in a race.

Why is Mont Ventoux so difficult?

Worse than the steepness, at times, is the wind. Ventoux means windy, and the powerful mistral of southern France beats this area up to 130 days a year. The wind was almost 45 miles per hour during the 1969 Tour and has been measured as high as 200 mph at the summit.

Why is Mont Ventoux bare at the top?

The top of the mountain is bare limestone without vegetation or trees, which makes the mountain’s barren peak appear from a distance to be snow-capped all year round (its snow cover actually only lasts from December to April).

Why are there no trees on Mt Ventoux?

Flora and fauna Originally forested, Mont Ventoux was systematically stripped of trees from the 12th century onwards to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon. Some species, including various types of spiders and butterflies, are unique to Mont Ventoux.

Can I ride Mont Ventoux on Zwift?

As part of that tie-in Zwift has created a new France map, and one of the climbs on that map is the biggest yet: the ascent of the Géant du Provence, the mighty Mont Ventoux. And it’s a big one: a vertical mile of ascent from bottom to top, over 21km of brutal French tarmac.

How big is the gradient at Mont Ventoux?

Distance: 21.4 km | Gradient: 1639 m | Altitude top: 1912 m | Altitude start: 283 m | Average gradient: 7.6 %

Do you need a bike to climb Mont Ventoux?

To climb the Mont Ventoux a minimum amount of training is definitely required. Unless you want to stand alone helplessly in the scenery of the forest, your bike as your last support. A pick-me-up for the others who climb whistling past you. No more.

When did the Mont Ventoux hill climb start?

From 1902 to 1976 the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb for car and motorcycle took place on the roads of the Mont. Originally forested, Mont Ventoux was systematically stripped of trees from the 12th century onwards to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon.

Why is Mont Ventoux called the Windy Mountain?

Once the Chalet Renard is reached, the toughest part is over, unless… you’re unlucky and the wind hits you in the face for the rest of the climb in the middle of a lunar landscape, unprotected by trees. The name Mont Ventoux means “windy mountain”, and some experts know why: the local Mistral and Transmontana winds can be up to 150 km/hour here.